Poem - Blankney Church

Since the late 1950s there has been a considerable drop in church attendances. Over the same period of time moral standards and respect for other people have also been in decline. I am not a religious person, but in my view this is not coincidental, one is a direct result of the other. I was mindful of this when in 1995 I wrote the following poem.

Blankney Church

Oh little church how proud you stand
Taller than the beech
Where for all these centuries past
Man has come to preach
Where man has also come to kneel
To ask forgiveness for his sins
From your tower bells would peal
And man would sing his hymns
And those who sang their praises
In loud and thunderous waves
Now lie silent at your feet
Contented in their graves
Majestic and aloof you seem
Surrounded by the yew
Your purpose now diminished
Appealing to the few
And as your congregation
Grows smaller day by day
Sadly we must face the truth
That man has lost his way

Rodney Garlant